Rough-fish
Hoplostethus mediterraneus
- Usual depth305–748 m
- Water temperature8–29 °C
- Best monthsSeptember
- How commonCommon
About this species
The silver roughy or Mediterranean slimehead is a small deep-sea fish species belonging to the slimehead family (Trachichthyidae). It is recognized as a bony fish and is metallic with orange to red fins. It is found widely at depths of 100 to 1,175 m (328–3,855 ft) in the Atlantic, ranging from Iceland and Georges Bank in the north to South Africa and Brazil in the south, including the Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico. It is also found in the Western Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Silver roughy”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 144 records
- February: 121 records
- March: 33 records
- April: 108 records
- May: 451 records
- June: 150 records
- July: 96 records
- August: 172 records
- September: 1,197 records
- October: 334 records
- November: 58 records
- December: 69 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 305–748 m · Deepest record: 3,821.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Rough-fish, Silver roughy, Black-mouthed Alfonsin, Blackmouth Roughy, Blacktip Sawbelly, Common Sawbelly, Fough Fish, Mediterranean redfish, Mediterranean Sawbelly, Mediterranean slimehead, Mediterranean Slime-head Fish, Mediterranean slimehead, Silver Roughy, New Zealand Saw-belly, New Zealand Sawbelly, Pink, rosy soldierfish, Rosy Soldier Fish, rough-fish, Sawbelly, silver roughy, Slimehead
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Mittelmeer-Sägebauch
- Spanish
- Peloj, Reloj, Reloj de Nueva Zelanda, Reloj Mediterráneo
- French
- hoplostète argenté, Hoplostète argenté, Poisson-montre, Poisson Montre
- Japanese
- シソヒウチ
- Simplified Chinese
- 地中海胸棘鯛, 地中海胸燧鯛, 紅胸燧鯛
Other scientific names: Hoplostethus intermedius, Hoplostetus mediterraneus, Korsogaster nanus, Trachichthys intermedius, Trachichthys pretiosus
Similar species
Deep sea perchHoplostethus atlanticus
Giant Saw-bellyHoplostethus gigas
- Thickspine roughy
Hoplostethus crassispinus
- Western Pacific Roughy
Hoplostethus japonicus
- Mediterranean Saw-belly
Hoplostethus latus
- New Zealand Giant Sawbelly
Hoplostethus melanopeza
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 7,597 open-data records from 1829 to 2024.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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